Vehicle

1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4dr SUV 4WD

Review

I bought my Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo from my neighbor in Dec. 2007 and have put 21,000 miles on it. I've taken it to upstate NY 21 times, a 600 mile round trip. Only got stranded once when the water pump seized up on a trip to Pennsylvania. Snapped the serpentine belt. Had to replace H2O pump, belt, tensioner and radiator. Car severely overheated but it did not damage the cast iron engine, an indestructible workhorse of a motor. No other problems. With 158,500 miles it still runs like a freight train. Always starts. I have the Quadra-Trac system, full-time AWD. On a recent road trip at 65 mph without the AC running I averaged 20.3 mpg. I use 89 octane so it runs cleaner. Great old car.

Best Features

Classic timeless Jeep look, square and functional. Go-anywhere confidence from the 4-wheel drive capabilities of the vehicle. Handles well in any weather conditions. High vantage point and lots of window exposure for great visibility on the road.

Worst Features

Placement of tire inside the vehicle wasted space but they fixed that long ago. From what I'm hearing the newer Jeep Grand Cherokees don't measure up to the old ones in terms of reliability. Might I suggest they resume production of the old 4.0 litre inline-6 motor that I have in my 1996 model?